# Configuring &amarok;

&amarok; is easily configured from the configuration dialog. The configuration dialog has multiple tabs for setting up different functions of &amarok;.

The configuration dialog can be found by selecting Configure &amarok; in the player &RMB; menu, or by selecting Settings Configure &amarok;....

## General Options

General Options Screenshot

The General Options tab is divided into two sections, General Options and Playlist Options.

General Options

- In the General Options section you can configure some basic &amarok; options.

  Show splash-screen on startup: displays the splash screen when &amarok; starts.

  Show tray icon: enables the display of the system tray icon.

  Flash tray icon: enables animation of the system tray icon.

  Show player window (like XMMS): Turns on the XMMS-like Player Window. When un-checked, only the Playlist Window, which resembles a display mode similar to the Juk interface, is shown.

  Use Moodbar: only visible when &amarok; is compiled with moodbar support. This turns on the experimental moodbar support.

  Make Moodier: only visible when &amarok; is compiled with moodbar support. It changes the color scheme used for the moodbar.

  Store Mood data files with music: only visible when &amarok; is compiled with moodbar support. When enabled, this option allows saving of `.mood` files in the same location as the corresponding audio file. When disabled, the `.mood` files are saved within the &amarok; settings directory; usually `~/.trinity/share/apps/amarok/moodbar/`.

  Default size of cover previews: allows adjusting the size of the album cover image in the Context Browser.

  External web browser: allows choosing what &amarok; uses to open external links via a drop-down menu listing the installed browsers.

  Use another browser: allows you to specify the location to a browser not listed in the above menu.

Playlist-Window Options

- In the Playlist-Window Options section you can configure playlist behavior.

  Remember current playlist on exit: check this if you want to save your current playlist when you exit &amarok; and reload it the next time.

  Manually saved playlists use relative path: check this box to have &amarok; save playlists with the location of audio file with respect to the location of the playlist. When unchecked &amarok; will save the exact location to the audio files in the playlist.

  Keep active song visible on track change: this option automatically scrolls the Playlist, when a track changes, to ensure that the currently playing track is always visible.

  Switch to Context Browser on track change: used to change to the Context Browser tab if it isn't active when &amarok; starts playback of a new track.

  Show statusbar: enables the &amarok; statusbar in the Playlist Window.

## Configure Appearance

Configure Appearance Screenshot

The Appearance tab allows you to configure how &amarok; looks. The tab is divided into three sections.

Fonts

- The fonts section is used for selecting the fonts to be used with &amarok;. Selecting the Use custom fonts checkbox enables font selection buttons. The available choices are for the Player Window, the Playlist Window, and the Context Browser. By clicking the Choose... button you can select a font from the dialog.

Color Scheme

- The color scheme section is used to choose the color scheme for &amarok;.

  The current KDE color-scheme choice forces &amarok; use the current KDE color scheme.

  The classic Amarok, "funky-monkey", theme choice uses &amarok;'s original color scheme.

  Custom color scheme enables color selectors to choose custom foreground and background colors for &amarok;.

Context Browser Style

- This section allows you to change, install and remove Context Browser styles (themes). The Select a style drop-down menu selection of installed styles for use. The Install New Styles... button opens a file selection dialog where you can browse to styles saved on your system and install them. The Download Styles... button opens a dialog that fetches new styles from kde-look.org. Finally, the Uninstall Style button shows a dialog which allows you to remove any manually installed styles.

## Configure Playback

Configure Playback Screenshot

The Configure Playback tab provides an interface for configuring your audio playback characteristics.

Transition Behavior

- You can configure how &amarok; transitions from one song to the next.

  No Crossfading: provides a silent gap between tracks, specified in milliseconds.

  Crossfading: provides a nice fading effect. The crossfade period is also specified in milliseconds.

Remaining Options

- The remaining checkbox configures the the following option:

  Resume playback on start allows resuming playback of the last track that was playing when &amarok; was closed, from the last known position in the track.

## Configure On-Screen-Display

Configure OSD Screenshot

Configure On-Screen-Display

- The Configure On-Screen-Display tab allows you to activate the On-Screen-Display. If the On-Screen-Display check box is selected an area is activated for configuring the look of the display. When the On-Screen-Display is activated a preview widget will also be displayed allowing you to see the effects of your changes to the look of the On-Screen-Display

  The first option for the OSD is the Font. Clicking the Choose button will open a Font Selection dialog allowing you to choose the font used in the OSD. There is also a Draw shadow checkbox to enable or disable the use of Shadowed text in the OSD

  The next option is for the OSD colors. Checking the Use custom colors checkbox enables the Text color: and Background color: buttons. Clicking the buttons opens a dialog to choose the color OSD Text or OSD Background. If the Use custom colors checkbox is disabled the OSD will follow your current &kde; color scheme.

  The Display Text text input box is used for configuring the text shown in the OSD. By assigning variables you can customize the OSD to suit your needs. Below is a list of the variables and the text they represent.

  Text | Variable
  Title | %title
  Album | %album
  Artist | %artist
  Genre | %genre
  Bitrate | %bitrate
  Year | %year
  Track Length | %length
  Track Number | %track
  Filename | %file
  Comment | %comment
  Score | %score
  Playcount | %playcount

  The Duration spin box is used to adjust the time, in milliseconds, that the OSD is displayed on your desktop.

  The Screen option is for xinerama users only. This option is used to determine what screen the OSD will be shown on in a multiple monitor setup.

## Configure Engine

Configure Engine Screenshot

The Configure Engine tab allows you to select a sound engine from the list in the drop-down menu. Available options vary among the engines selected. See the "Requirements" section for different engines available.

## Configure Collection

Configure Collection Screenshot

The Collection settings tab is used for configuring all the collection options. These include the folders where you music is stored, and the database used for the collection.

Collection Folders

- This is where you choose the folders you want &amarok; to scan for music. Simply check the boxes next to the desired folders in the tree view of your filesystem. The Collection Folders section also has several check boxes to specify how the collection uses the selected folders.

  Scan folders recursively: tells &amarok; to scan the selected folders and all of their sub-folders.

  Watch folders for changes: allows &amarok; to watch the selected folders for filesystem changes (for example, added or deleted music files). An incremental scan is also performed to make the necessary changes to your collection.

  Import Playlists: allows &amarok; to import any playlists (.pls and .m3u files) it finds while scanning for tracks to add to your collection. You will find these on the "Playlists" sidebar.

Collection Database

- The Collection Database section is used to select a database to use for the collection. Use the Engine: combo box to select from either Sqlite or MySql. If MySql is selected, additional configuration is required in the MySql Configuration section.

  The MySql Configuration section is for configuring what database &amarok; uses, and where it is located. First is the Hostname:, which is where the MySql database is located. Next is the Port:, which is the network port used when connecting to the database. The Name: option, is the actual database to connect to.

  Use the Username: and Password: text input boxes to specify the username and password used for connecting to the MySql database.

## Configure Last.fm

Configure last.fm Screenshot

The last.fm settings tab configures the last.fm support in &amarok;. Tracks played are submitted to the last.fm server, and if asked to, &amarok; will request recommendations based on your currently playing track.

last.fm Profile

- This is where you fill in the Username and Password for your last.fm profile. If you do not have a profile you can register at the last.fm website.

last.fm Services

- Improve my profile by submitting the tracks I play: allows &amarok; to submit your played tracks to your last.fm profile.

  Retrieve similar artists: this will cause &amarok; to request, from last.fm, a list of artists similar to the one you're listening to. These are also displayed in the Context Browser. Note: you do not need a last.fm profile to recieve similar artists - simply check this box.